Getting off the Ground Globally

Hubert Meffre

a lifelong globetrotting manager with first-hand knowledge of world cultures and the sensitivity to bridge the gaps, offers true expertise in "Inter-Nationality" (cross-cultural management), as a

• CONSULTANT IN CROSS-CULTURAL BUSINESS BEHAVIOURS and
• TRAINER OF INTER-NATIONALITY MANAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATION.

Fluent in French, English, German and Italian, his success is based on:

• Simplifying complexities by distilling priorities and identifying essential issues,
• Understanding and dealing with peoples' problems, be it individually or as a group,
• A 360º world outlook and panoramic approach with his main focus being on French, American, British, Germanic, Latin, Islamic and Asian cultures, and
• Communicating authentically from first-hand knowledge and language proficiency.

Hubert attributes his professional evolution to an insatiable curiosity and passion for learning triggered from age three when his father's profession took the family to live in Ceylon, Singapore and the Philippines, followed by London. Although his mother taught him his numbers early on, he was not formally schooled until the age of ten. Later he would go on to obtain two MBAs in France, from ESCP and INSEAD.

During his student years, he worked each summer in Germany, living in German families, and would later return to work for ten years for a German group as a marketing manager. A French national, he completed his military service in Madagascar as a delegate to the island's electricity and water authority.

Infected by what he calls an incurable case of the international virus, Hubert continued his career working as a marketing and sales manager for many years in Morocco, Germany, Italy, France and Switzerland, and then worldwide from France, until it became apparent to him that his life experience had provided him with invaluable know-how to launch a new career that was direly needed on the international business scene: inter-nationality management consultancy. Weaving in his own extensive personal and professional experience into Edward Hall's cross-cultural management techniques and applying the principles of NLP, Hubert developed a stunning and efficient approach to trans-cultural communications which he has been successfully marketing worldwide from a French home base for the last 15 years. He is recognized as a rare authority in his field.

Hubert believes that virtually every international merger, joint venture or cooperation requires guidance in "inter-nationality". His method is to individually interview the key people of all the nationalities involved in order to understand their particular problems or concerns. From these interviews, he draws a summary that is then used as the basis for a joint training session. His counsel is solution-oriented, based on specific needs and best results. He counsels individuals and expatriating couples as well as multinationals.

Asked if it isn't risky reducing cultural specificity to stereotypes, Hubert refers to the symbol of the Tao (shown in the photo above) which he finds particularly pertinent to understanding cross-cultural polarities about which it is perfectly safe – and accurate – to generalize. While almost all cultures are arrogant in some ways, the French appear to be the world champions; the Americans win for insularity; and the British are difficult for not saying what they think.

Inter-nationalism goes a long way back in Hubert's family, to Jean-Gaspard Vence, an officer in the French navy who was commissioned as a privateer during the American Revolution by King Louis XVI. Vence received his assignment directly from the U.S. Congress and fought with his ship and crew under the American flag, thus entitling all of his male descendants to membership in the prestigious Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.

Working from Paris with roots in Provence , Hubert enjoys golfing between consultancies. He also teaches Inter-Nationality Management at the Sorbonne. If you run into him on the street, he will most likely greet you enthusiastically with a simple question, "Would you like to know what I discovered recently"?